India’s merchandise exports to the rest of the world fell for the seventh successive month in June, representing a serious setback for New Delhi’s long-term goal of doubling its global outbound trade over the next five years.

China’s government has never been slow to pile into its markets and even as improving June exports halted a three-month decline, Beijing this week issued a package of support measures for the industry.

Import volume at the busiest U.S. container gateways during July is expected to rise 7.3 percent from a year earlier as retailers prepare for back-to-school sales, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report.

A Tokyo-based research firm has downgraded its outlook for Japanese container trade in fiscal 2015, which started on April 1, citing a significantly slower pace of growth in imports than previously anticipated.

U.S. exports of cotton (not carded or combed) by dollar value tumbled 20.6 percent year-over-year in the first quarter of 2015, the tenth consecutive quarterly decline. The trade outlook for 2015 looks disappointing, mostly because of a global glut of the fiber and weakening demand from China, the top-. Cotton exports by dollar value are forecast to decline 1.6 percent for an annual total of $4.3 billion with downside risks, following a decline of 21.4 percent in 2014.